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During the congress, E-Posters will be accessible to all participants on the congress website 24/7, as well as in the E-poster stations in the congress center.
Preparing your E-Poster
Please review the E-Poster format requirements carefully when preparing your E-Poster. Should your E-Poster not meet the mentioned requirements, it may not be displayed as described above.
E-Poster Submission Deadline
Please prepare and upload your E-Poster no later than March 14, 2026 11.59PM CET. After this date, you will no longer be able to prepare and upload your E-poster and it will not be displayed and accessible on the congress website.
Please follow the instructions below to input your abstract title.
Abstract titles should be brief and reflect the content of the abstract.
Green Nephrology (GN) aims to reduce the environmental impact of kidney care, addressing carbon emissions and plastic waste (PW). Although plastic neutrality (PN)— removal and recycling of an equivalent amount of plastic used—is a vital sustainability strategy, it currently lacks established guidelines and widespread discussion within dialysis care settings. This prospective study aimed to pilot a scalable PN model for dialysis providers. Model was to convert PW into value-added Plastoconcrete (PC) products for exhibition at major medical meetings to generate funds, which were then used for essential patient care
The project utilized a "Waste to Wellness" model, integrating patients into the circular economy. Products like planters and utility items were created using a proprietary PC method, which incorporates repurposed PW into concrete cement.
Over a two-year prospective study, these products were displayed at national and local nephrology meetings piggy backed over pharmaceutical sponsors. The plastic credits generated from the sponsors' acquisition of the products were directly exchanged for essential anemia management medications (intravenous iron and erythropoietin) for economically vulnerable dialysis patients. Data collected included qualitative feedback from nephrology delegates and quantitative data on patient benefits received
1000 kg of PW was successfully converted into tangible products Fig 1. Conversion cost and tangible making were $1,000 USD and $500 USD, respectively, yielding 2,000 plastic credit points. The subsequent exchange of 1,000 points with pharmaceutical sponsors generated $3,000 USD Table 1.
These funds were equivalent to covering IV iron and erythropoietin for 25 needy patients for a period of three months. The total cost for the medication was $1,500 USD ($800 for IV Iron Ferricarboxy Maltose and $700 for Inj Erythropoietin) Table 2. The project resulted in a balance of $1,500 USD worth of credit, confirming its financial sustainability.
Qualitative feedback from nephrologist delegates highlighted a concern over the lack of discussion of plastic neutrality in existing GN forums and questions about the legal framework for large-scale clinical adoption
This study proves a novel, scalable, and self-sustaining "Waste to Wellness" model that integrates plastic neutrality into clinical nephrology, simultaneously promoting environmental sustainability and patient wellness. Future work must establish industry-wide Plastic Neutrality Guidelines based on this framework
